


Burning the Midnight Oil

by Slytherin_Princess_Nysa



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arya Girl Group BROTP, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff and Smut, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I call this- fixing the mess 8x04 left me with, Lemons, Love, Online Friendship, Romance, Slow Burn, Texting, trying to find each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-02-29 19:54:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18785086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slytherin_Princess_Nysa/pseuds/Slytherin_Princess_Nysa
Summary: Two months ago, Arya texted the wrong number. When he told her he wasn't who she was looking for, it should have been the end, but she finds herself texting him when everyone else is asleep. About her day, her homework, her siblings. It's almost a therapy for her- having someone to talk to that won't judge her or tell anyone her secrets. Because she doesn't know who he is and he doesn't know who she is. But maybe that's not a good thing, maybe she'd like to meet him.





	1. Professor Problems

**Author's Note:**

> You guys remember when Game of Thrones got cancelled after season 6? Man, what a tragedy, I wonder how the show would have ended if it was still airing!

* * *

 

**~Arya Stark~**

**Arya:** _Hey, have you finished the last five slides of the presentation?_

 

 **Xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _I’m sorry?_

 

 **Arya:** _Oh come on! It’s due tomorrow, you’ve had a week! I’m not failing because of you_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _I’m really sorry, but I don’t know who this is or about any project_

 

Arya stared at the phone in her hand before glancing back at the sticky note on her desk. The number was the same until the last two numbers, which she had accidentally reversed. It was probably her own fault for not texting Jaqen earlier in the week.

 

 **Arya:** _Sorry for bothering you, I had the wrong number_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _It’s okay, I hope your presentation goes okay_

 

She meant to say thank you, but Jaqen texted her back from his actual number and Arya spent the night helping him finish the project. And if she texted the mystery person a week later about how annoying her sister was, it was alright because they responded about how much of a nuisance their own sister was.

* * *

 

Arya sat in her plush chair, the only light in the room from the lamp balanced on her desk. She pushed the hardcover away from her, the words having become blurred and unreadable in the last few hours. Arya pulled her phone from her bag, ignoring the calls and texts from her siblings, they would all be asleep at this hour and she could rely in the morning.

 

 **Arya** : _Do you think there’s such a thing as the perfect murder?_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx** : _Are you asking me hypothetically or are you about to tell me that you can see me and I should be calling the police?_

 

Arya snorted, kicking off her slippers and pulling her legs onto the chair, her socked toes wiggling over the edge. It was just like him to bring up a cheesy horror movie trope as a response to a serious question.

 

 **Arya:** _Professor Qyburn assigned a paper on necromancy of all things- I’m just thinking of creative ways to check his hypothesis_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _Isn’t Qyburn that wackjob who keeps being put on probation by the Board?_

 

 **Arya** : _Yeah, that’s the one_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _Why are you taking his class? You should have known this is the kind of shit you’d put up with all semester_

 

 **Arya** : _I didn’t know! My brothers friend took the class last year and he said it was an easy grade- now I’m realizing you have to have a psychotic breakdown to fit into this madhouse_

 

Stupid Theon, she should have known not to trust that little sea urchin with anything important. All of her older siblings had given their input on what she should major in and which elective classes she should take, apparently that included Robb’s best friend.

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _Couldn’t you have dropped the class?_

 

 **Arya** : _Was sick first week of the semester, deadline passed me by_

 

Not exactly a lie, but she figured her stay in the hospital was too complicated and personal for a nameless penpal. She didn’t even know his name, just that he was, in fact, a he. Not that she hadn’t thought about exchanging names since their accidental meeting, but it felt strangely liberating to have someone she could talk to all the time without worrying about him telling anyone else or judging her.

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _It could be worse_

 

 **Arya:** _How could it possibly be worse??_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _You could have your first assignment of the year be a fourteen page study on medicinal herbs in the nineteenth century_

 

She couldn’t help but wonder if he was a medical major or if it was just an elective class he thought would be interesting. Although, Arya couldn’t think of a single reason why anyone would enroll in a class that _started_ with a fourteen page paper.

 

 **Arya:** _Okay I’ll grant you that_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _Why do you always text me in the middle of the night? Don’t you care that you’re ruining my precious sleep schedule?_

 

They’d been talking for over two months and he always responded when she texted, and she likewise. It was little problems in their daily lives- his roommate kept leaving his girlfriend’s underthings in the living room and he kept losing his headphones at the worst times, Arya complained about too much homework and her dog sleeping on all her sweatshirts. But they never said names, nothing that could identify them. The anonymity seemed to suit them both.

 

 **Arya:** _I figure as a university student your schedule is already a mess- but you’re right, you should get some sleep. Night!_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _Wait! You never answered my question_

 

 **Arya:** _I guess this is when every normal person in my phone is asleep_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _What do you have me written as in your phone anyway?_

 

Arya supposed in the time they had been talking, she could have given him a nickname. Something from their talks that would. But it never seemed right to give him something so familiar when she didn’t know his name so she left his contact in her phone as just his number.

 

 **Arya:** _Nothing, it’s just your number, why?_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _Wow, I thought I meant more to you_

 

 **Arya:** _Why would you think that, sir?_

 

She waited a minute, stretching her arms above her head and tucking her hands back into her sweatshirt sleeves to keep them from the cold. Margaery always kept their apartment pleasantly warm, but Arya had the North in her and despite the biting cold outside, she kept her window open at night. Her curiosity peaked and she pulled her phone into her chilled hands.

 

 **Arya:** _What do you have me written as?_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _Howler_

 

Arya sat up straighter in her seat. The Stark family was always associated with wolves because of their Northern roots for as long as anyone could remember. They lived and breathed the cold, the night and everything in between. She worried her lip, had he figured it out?

 

 **Arya:** _Why Howler?_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _Because you always seem to be up at night, I never hear from you during the day, also because when you’re angry about something I picture you as a Howler from Harry Potter_

 

 **Arya:** _Should I be offended?_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _Absolutely. In my mind you’re a red envelope with a big mouth._

 

Arya yawned into her sleeve, rubbing at her eyes with her knuckles. It was already past three in the morning and she had class at nine. She flipped the light off and pulled her worn out body out of the chair. She padded to her bed in the dark, burying herself into the warmth of her blankets and hooking her phone on the charger.

 

 **Arya:** _Not far from the truth, honestly_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _I’m sure you have other features- eyes and fingers maybe_

 

 **Arya:** _You never know, I could be a chemically engineered gorilla_

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _That’s something I’d love to see_

 

She meant to say goodnight but her eyes blinked closed and it took longer to open them each time. Her phone dropped next to her pillow and Arya snuggled deeper into her bed. Before she drifted off, she felt her phone buzz with a final message.

* * *

 

 **xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _Sweet dreams_

 

Arya pulled her phone towards her face, she smiled lightly at the message he had sent her. It wasn’t until she noticed the little numbers at the top of the screen that her life flashed before her eyes. She had overslept, easily missing her first lecture and was half an hour away from being late to her second.

She tried to yank the blanket away, but instead of being freed, she ended up in a twisted mess of sheets with her feet kicking uselessly. She struggled on the mattress until she felt the blanket unravel and her body pass over the edge of the bed, slamming into the floor.

Groaning, Arya sat up from the floor and rushed into her closet. She grabbed the first pair of jeans she saw and tugged them on. She’d worn her sweatshirt to bed but it was still clean so Arya didn’t bother changing out of it. Her bag was hanging off the back of her chair and Arya made sure her textbook was inside before she ran down the stairs with it.

“Hey! I thought you’d be out already.” Margaery called from the kitchen. Arya could smell the eggs and bacon cooking.

“I overslept,” she said as she grabbed a piece of toast and shoved it in her mouth. “I have practice today but I’ll be home around six.”

Margaery handed her two pieces of bacon and her sports bottle. “Okay, Loras and Renly are having a party tomorrow. You want to come?”

“What else am I supposed to do on a Friday night?” Arya unlocked the back door and waved to Margaery as she ran out.

The two of them lived a ten minute walk from the university, running Arya made it in half the time. She could see the door to her classroom, open and waiting for other almost-late-students to come in. Arya rushed inside, ignoring the glare the Professor Luwin sent her and sat in her regular seat. She pulled her book out and a notebook, willing her heart to slow.

“Hey, you okay?” Lommy whispered from behind her.

“Overslept.” she muttered over her shoulder.

“Have you ever thought about setting an alarm?” Hot Pie asked.

It wasn’t his real name, obviously, but he hated Laurence and Arya couldn’t blame him for that. Hot Pie wanted to be a baker, and he already made the best pies Arya had ever had. As long as he wasn’t offended by the nickname, Arya didn’t have a problem using it.

Arya turned fully in her seat, pursing her lips at her friends. “I have several, thank you. I just slept through them.”

Before Lommy or Hot Pie could comment, Professor Luwin began his lecture. Arya reclined in her seat, pulling her notebook into her lap as she took notes. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she clicked the screen on.

**Robb:** _Mom is having a dinner party Saturday_

**Arya:** _Why?? She only has those with an ulterior motive_

**Robb:** _ We all have new roommates this year, she’s just worried that we’re living with weirdos _

**Arya:** _ It’s probably a good idea for all of us to know each other, I’ll ask Margaery and Cella if they want to go _

Arya shoved her phone into her bag before Luwin could notice and went back to jotting down notes.


	2. Pretty Girls

**~Gendry Waters~**

**Robb:** _Hey, are you going to Renly’s party?_

 

 **Gendry:** _Thinking about it, depends on if I finish this hell paper_

 

**Robb:** _ Isn’t it due in two weeks? _

 

 **Gendry:** _Yeah, but am I the only one wondering why Renly is dating someone, what, nine years younger than him?_

 

 **Robb:** _Haven’t a clue, live and let live, you know?_

 

 **Gendry:** _No judgement, just curiosity_

 

Gendry put his phone away, rolling his cramped neck as he bend forward to try and make out the picture on the textbook. Whose idea was it to make the pictures so bloody small? It was barely the size of his thumb. How was he supposed to learn the material properly when he could only see half the information?

He looked at his notes, several pages filled with chicken scratch that were supposed to help him with his paper. Suppose being the operative word, because Gendry could barely read his own writing, let alone make up a coherent research paper out of it.

But he had to.

Gendry’s junior year had just started and he was already twenty-four, if he continued to study hard, he would graduate next year at twenty-five. Older than most of the students in the university, but he hadn’t exactly come from a family that could afford college and he felt lucky to be in university at all. He hadn’t enrolled until he was sure he had saved up enough money to keep both of his sisters in high school.

Mya and Bella were younger than him by eight years, it was his job to take care of them. Even when that meant taking five years between highschool and college to work at Mott’s garage all day-every day with short breaks. Gendry highlighted a sentence in his textbook, the neon yellow burning into his eyes. A headache was aggressively building and Gendry rubbed his eyes to alleviate the ache.

A crash sounded through the library and his eyes snapped open; his head whipped around, searching for the origin of the sound. There, in the corner between the stacks, was a girl crouched on the floor, picking up the books she had knocked off the table. Gendry thought about walking over to help her, but before he could, she had already picked up all the books.

She was pretty, Gendry decided. In a natural and wild kind of way.

Her hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head, strands of chocolate brown raining around her heart shaped face. Her brows were furrowed and she worried her lip as she tried to rearrange the books in front of her. She reached to grab another book from a shelf shorter than Gendry, raising on the tips of her toes, her sweatshirt riding up to reveal a strip of milky skin. There was a small tattoo printed into her hip, he couldn’t tell what it was but he wished he could.

She was wearing tights, sneakers and while the sleeves of her university sweatshirt hung past her dainty fingers, the bottom was savagely chopped to her hips. It looked comfortable. She pushed several books into her bag and turned to put away the other texts. Gendry’s eyes dropped from her smooth face, following the lines of her body. While she was at least a foot shorter than him, she was curved and muscled.

Gendry definitely wouldn’t mind spending a few hours with her. He was working up the courage to walk towards her when his phone buzzed.

 

**Robb:** _ I forgot to ask, but do you want to come to dinner with my family Saturday? _

 

Gendry was shocked. He liked Robb, he was a proper mate. But Robb had the perfect family- his parents were high school sweethearts who ran a successful family business, they lived in a mansion with six dogs and five siblings- one that Gendry didn’t share. When Robb talked about his family, Gendry always felt jealous and left out.

All he had was Mya and Belle and they depended on him to keep a roof over their head and put food on their table. The only reason he had moved out was because both of them insisted on getting afterschool jobs to pay for their own expenses, something he didn’t like but they were both stubborn and pushed him until he agreed. It was lucky that the apartment he shared with Robb was much closer to the university than the house he used to live in with his sisters, it meant not waking up before the sun came up.

 

**Gendry:** _ To celebrate our upcoming nuptials? _

 

Getting a laugh out of how uncomfortable he was seemed like the right response. He smiled as he watched the little dots showing Robb typing for several minutes- appearing and disappearing every few seconds. Gendry looked back towards the shelves where the pretty girl had been, but she was gone now.

 

**Robb:** _ You’re an idiot and I do hate you _

 

Gendry snorted loudly, shooting an apologetic look at the librarian after she shushed him. He made a show of dragging his books closer to his chest as she continued glaring at him. After a minute, she returned to her computer and Gendry pushed the books away.

 

**Robb:** _ But yes, my mum wants to meet all of her new kids _

 

Gendry’s brows arched and he decided to pack it in for the night. Clearly he wouldn’t be getting any more work done, not when he was thinking about Starks and pretty dark haired girls wearing oversized sweatshirts.

 

**Gendry:** _ I’m getting adopted? _

 

 **Robb:** _Congratulations, mate. You’re an honourary Stark now_

 

Gendry Waters-Stark had an odd ring to it. He scrunched his nose and muffled a snort into the crook of his elbow as he imagined marrying Jon or Robb, the only Starks he’s ever met. He knew Robb had two younger sisters, but he couldn’t picture their faces and it seemed  _ wrong _ to see a girl he had never met in a wedding dress. Not that seeing his mates in a white dress was any less strange. Gendry shook his head, ridding himself of the thoughts. Too much caffeine and not enough sleep.

 

**Gendry:** _ Should have known not to move in with you, you screamed trouble _

 

 **Robb:** _And yet, here we are_

 

Gendry made his way out of the library, annoyed that he hadn’t finished taking notes for his paper. He’d been sat at that damned table for hours, reading the same three chapters over and over again, trying to write something coherent in his notebook. He supposed some work was better than no work at all.

His car was an old Mustang, torn apart and rebuilt from scratch in his spare time from Mott’s. It was the only possession he had that he was proud of- made from endless hours, hardwork and leftover parts that Tobho let him take home from the garage. It ran smoothly and Gendry made it home in no time.

Gendry dropped his book bag on the coffee table, clicking on the television to a random channel before stepping into the kitchen. There were ingredients in the cabinets and fridge, but Gendry was too drained to cook anything. Cereal seemed like a good snack before bed but when he reached inside the fridge for milk, he found the bottle empty.

What kind of an animal left an empty bottle in the refrigerator?

 

 **Gendry:** _Can you pick up milk on the way home?_

 

 **Robb:** _Yes, dear_

 

 **Gendry:** _That joke is going to haunt me, isn’t it?_

 

Gendy sat on the plush couch, a gift from Mr and Mrs Stark, with his feet propped up on the table as he gazed unseeingly at the television. It was some romance movie or another, where the main characters blundered about for an hour and a half before suddenly realizing they were soulmates and running into each other's arms in the rain. What utter nonsense.

 

**Robb:** _ Bold of you to assume I would ever forget that goldmine _

 

**Gendry:** _ I was hopeful. Yes, by the way, I’ll come to dinner _

 

He didn’t know why he agreed to go. Maybe it was the idea of a home cooked meal that appealed to him, or maybe just the thought of being included in the normal and perfect lives of the Starks was a nice dream. Even if the fairy tail lasted only one evening. While he waited for Robb to come home, Gendry dug his notes out of his bag. He managed to read through his bad handwriting exactly once before he shoved the notebook back into the bag and under the table out of sheer frustration.

 

**Gendry:** _ I can’t get work done _

 

He didn’t know if she would answer this early at night, well early for her. For everyone else this- eleven at night, was usually sleeping time. Gendry drummed his fingers on the case covering his phone until her message appeared on the screen.

 

 **Howler:** _Why not?_

 

 **Gendry:** _Too distracted_

 

 **Howler:** _Ever thought about putting your phone up and going to the library?_

 

He rolled his eyes just as Robb came into the room with a green grocery bag. Gendry waved Robb towards the kitchen with his phone. Robb sighed but went ahead.

 

 **Gendry:** _I’ll have you know, milady, that I’ve already been at the library_

 

 **Howler:** _Don’t call me that_

 

Gendry grinned and relaxed into the cushions, his fingers moving along the keyboard.

* * *

 

**~Arya Stark~**

She couldn’t help it, the second she had read his text about being in the library, all Arya could do was think about every face she had come across when  _ she _ had been at the library. There had been the study group for calculus, and about a dozen more single studiers. That had been in the front of the library alone. Arya would admit that she hadn’t looked too closely at anyone, being too busy and in a hurry.

“If that’s your mystery penpal, I want details for once.” Myrcella grinned as she pulled the bowl of mashed potatoes towards her across the dinner table. “You’re always texting him but you never share, it’s very rude. Tell us one thing, come on.” Cella urged.

“He says he can’t study because he’s distracted.” Arya rolled her eyes and said around a mouthful of grilled vegetables. “The idiot is on his phone, of course he’s distracted.”

“Maybe he likes you more than he likes doing his homework,” Margaery sent her a mischievous smile. “You two are attached at the hip. Virtually.”

“Maybe he’d rather be doing you than the homework,” Cella burst into laughter when Arya’s face turned an interesting shade of red. “Have you cracked and met him in person, yet?”

Arya shook her head and continued shoveling food into her mouth. “Myrcella, you are a menace to society.”

**xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _ What do you look like? _

Arya’s heart stopped. In all their time as penpals, Arya had never lied to him and she hoped he had never lied to her. She had omitted some names that would make her identity obvious, but she had never outright refused to answer him either.

**Arya:** _I have dark hair_

**xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _ me too, I have blue eyes _

**Arya:** _my eyes are grey_

**xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _ you sound pretty _

**Arya:** _you sound like a liar_

 

 

Arya excused herself from the table, leaving a confused Myrcella and Margaery. She scrapped the leftovers into the garbage before leaving her plate in the sink. She stomped back up the stairs and locked the door to her bedroom. She had homework do finish and notes to go over from her lectures.

Her phone buzzed again and Arya tossed it on her bed without looking at the message- she knew it was from him. He had never seen her, he only knew the things she’d just told him about what she looked like but it still felt like a lie when he called her pretty. Maybe it was because no one had called her pretty before.

Her mother had called her lovely once, but only when Catelyn had dressed her like the proper Lady she wanted her to be, like Sansa. Her father and Jon had said she looked nice once in a while. But no one called her pretty, especially not boys.

She stretched on her desk chair, trying and failing to read over the notes she had taken in class today. Her eyes continued to read over the same sentence.

_ Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels… _

How could he think she was pretty when he had never seen her? Not that she wanted to be seen but he couldn’t have an opinion for what she looked like when he hadn’t seen her. Or had he seen her? It had been a bit odd when he asked what she looked like. Perhaps he had seen her and realize it was her somehow and wanted to make sure?

_ Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels... _

But how would he know who she was? The only place she’d been all day was classes and the library. Had he been there?

_ Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels... _

Arya slammed the book shut, groaning loudly before crawling over her bed and digging through her duvet for the discarded phone. She found it quickly and unlocked it, scrolling through the messages.

 

 **Robb:** _Do you want to drive to mum’s together tomorrow?_

 

 **Sansa:** _What are you wearing tomorrow? I think you’d look super cute in that blue dress_

 

She texted both Robb and Sansa a quick no. Margaery and Cella had agreed to go to the dinner and the three of them would be driving to her parents house together. And there was no one she was talking about fashion with Sansa, or wearing a stupid dress.

 

 **Rickon:** _I think mum and dad are about to send me to military camp_

 

**Arya:** _ What did you do this time? _

  
She ignored the last message, the one from the unknown number. She didn’t know what she would say to him, so she didn’t. It was stupid that something so small could make her upset. It shouldn’t bother her, Arya decided. And it _didn’t_ matter!

Arya waited, pulling up her Netflix account and clicking on the first show in her list. It was getting pretty late so she didn’t expect Robb or Sansa to respond but Rickon was usually up at all hours just like her. They had spent many nights talking well past two in the morning before she moved out to college. She missed her baby brother.

She missed her whole family actually. All of her older siblings lived near her and she saw them often but she missed her parents and her younger brothers. She missed helping Bran with his homework, she missed chasing Rickon with their dogs, she missed getting into food fights with Robb and Jon at the dinner table, and she even missed avoiding Sansa and her makeovers. But mainly, she missed her parents. Her father’s kind smiles, understanding eyes. Her mother’s best intentions, her constant pestering to clean her room and eat her vegetables.

**Rickon:** _I may have set my chemistry lab on fire… but it was an accident!_

**Arya:** _Why is it that I don’t believe that?_

**Rickon:** _Okay so maybe it wasn’t entirely on accident_

**Arya:** _mhm, what did you do?_

**Rickon:** _ Who gives a bunch of middle schoolers burners and doesn’t expect a fire?? _

**Arya:** _I think it’s a common expectation to have_

**Rickon:** _ But military school for it?! Can you talk to mum and dad when you come for dinner? _

**Arya:** _I’ll talk to them but you have to promise to start being more well behaved_

**Rickon:** _I promise… never thought I’d hear you asking anyone to behave_

**Arya:** _You and me both_

Rickon sent her a dozen pictures of stupid animals running into things and Arya chuckled as she scrolled through them.

It wasn’t until she was ready to pass out for the night, homework long finished and an entire season under her belt, that she gave in and pulled out his message.

**xxx-xxx-xxxx:** _I’ve always thought grey eyes were quiet rare and lovely_


End file.
